Aphrodite Day
by lesmisgirl
Summary: It's mid-February in Camp-Half Blood and a certain love goddess had appeared to make the bleak winter more interesting. What will Nico DiAngelo do when confronted with his own feelings? Will he be brave enough to face them, and even braver to act upon them? Watch as Nico ponders one of life's most important question: Does he like me...or does he like like me? SOLANGELO Short story.
1. Chapter 1

There was certainly a lot of noise outside for a Wednesday in February.

Nico was thrown for a moment, wondering if he'd been imagining the buzzing of voices. It was a noise he'd grown accustomed to in summer, when campers seemed to think it all right to wake up at the crack of dawn. It wasn't a noise usually heard in the winter. Especially on a cold day in February. He stared up at the clock on the wall, which was unsurprisingly shaped like a coffin. Camp Half Blood seemed to be under the impression that all children of Hades were gothic and wanted their cabin decorated like a carbon copy of an early 2000s Hot Topic. Well, Nico _was_ kind of gothic. He did wear a lot of black and occasionally enjoyed a good metal band. And Hot Topic really wasn't that bad of store…but that's beside the point. The point was that it was 8:15 in the morning and campers were awake.

Nico racked his mind, wondering if there was something happening today that he'd forgotten. He couldn't think of anything that would be exciting in mid-February. _Maybe the Romans are attacking again…_he could only hope.

Camp Half-Blood was boring. Not that he missed the days of life threatening travel but…he missed the days of life threatening travel. He wouldn't go so far as to say he wanted to go back to Tartarus, but traveling with the Athena Parthenos wasn't _that_ bad. And Reyna had been a really awesome friend. Hedge wasn't that bad either.

It has been a scary time, but at least he had been doing something. And it had kept his mind off…things.

The noise outside was only growing louder, so Nico begrudgingly tossed his legs over his bed and stood up. He caught sight of himself in the vaguely Stoker-esque mirror across the way. His dark hair was an absolute mess, which he'd been expecting. He wore a shirt of some band he didn't even like anymore and sweat pants about a size too big and an inch too short. _It isn't like I have anyone to impress…_ Of course it wasn't true. The moment he thought it, he saw a very distinct face flashed in his mind's eye. Hastily, he tried to pat down his mess of hair but it stayed up. Deciding to give it up, he went out into the day.

He had to pause for a moment to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Surely, this wasn't Camp Half-Blood he'd walked out to. Yet the familiar buildings were all there, even though the fronts of them had been painted a most alarming shade of hot pink. In the middle of the circle was a giant statue (also pink) that Nico swore for a moment was Piper. But it was too mature looking to be her, so he figured it must be her mother. The statue had a face of insane elation, like it was really, _really_ excited to be here. Its hands were flung up into the air like some crazy Cinderella beckoning to her birds. All around the ground were red and white rose petals which ever so often would burst from Aphrodite's hands like some horrible flower purge.

Nico wanted to vomit.

Amidst all the flamboyancy, Nico realized his other fellow campers had gathered as well, each looking more confused than the next.

A loud bang rang through the campus, so loud that Nico wondered if an Ares kid had set off a canon. It had truly come from the Aphrodite cabin where a large banner appeared that read (in horrific calligraphy) _Happy Aphrodite Day!_

"Okay, so that's definitely not a real thing," said a voice from next to him. Nico flinched, surprised at the exclamation. A familiar, cheery laugh gave him the speaker's identity. He turned to see Will Solace smiling at him, "'Morning, Nico. You look like death."

"I am death," he said dryly. Nico could've killed himself right that. I am death…what the heck?

To his surprised, Will laughed. "Hi death, I'm Will."

Nico made a very good show of rolling his eyes, trying to pretend he was indifferent. Nico had become very good at playing indifferent. Which had been hard since Will was so…Will. He was so handsome, but nice enough that you couldn't hate him for it. He was nice to everyone, which was a little exasperating. Nico sort of hated Will for being nice to everyone because Nico couldn't tell if he was, well, special. Did Will like him, or was he just being friendly? Did Will _like_ like him, or was he just a friend? Nico thought about these things so much that he'd get headaches_. Don't think about it now, stupid. Say something back._

Will spoke first, "But seriously, Aphrodite Day? That's definitely not a real holiday."

Nico shrugged, crossing his arms, "I don't know. It doesn't sound like something Piper would organize."

Will surveyed the crowd. Nico knew most all the campers, but none well enough to actually initiate conversation. Not many campers stayed year round. It was mostly for people with a bad home, or no homes to go to. Some just liked it. Like Will. Will had decided to stay this year. Usually, he was just a summer camper, but Apollo Cabin had a lot of new campers staying and Will felt he needed to be there for them. He was so infuriatingly noble. Nico couldn't understand how one person could be so consistently nice and expect nothing in return. On top of being in charge of Apollo Cabin, he worked regularly at the hospital, and was now training new healers.

"Hey, there's Piper, let's ask her," Will said. "Piper!" He yelled, waving his hands above his head like an idiot.

"Stop," Nico mumbled, caving further into himself. All the campers around them turned and stared, raising their brows. He wished Will wouldn't hang around him so publicly. Every time they were together, people would stare and whisper. Like…like they knew… Not that Will was (or was he?) Nico could never tell and he wouldn't dare ask.

Piper saw them, and walked over, looking just as aghast at the outburst of pink-ness as everyone else. Piper's dad was filming a movie this year and she had decided to stay at Camp Half Blood to have more time with Jason_. God, I hope Jason doesn't see us. The last thing I need is him over here…_

Ever since piecing together Nico's crush, Jason had taken it upon himself to play matchmaker and force Will and Nico together at any possible moment. It usually resulted in Will being polite as usual and Nico trying not to explode from awkwardness and irritation…

Piper's braid wagged behind her as she walked up to them, "I don't…" She said with exasperation. "Don't ask me what this is all about." She gestured to the statue, which was now malfunctioning and spitting out rose petals at an alarming rate. A kid from Athena was screaming for people to get out of the way. "I guess mom took it upon herself to decorate for Valentine's Day."

"It's Valentine's Day?" Will and Nico asked at the same time. Will smirked and Nico tried his hardest not to blush.

Piper muttered something that sounded a lot like, "_Boys_."

There was another loud explosion, and Nico was just beginning to wonder what pyrotechnics had to do with love when Aphrodite herself appeared, bursting out of the statue's hands like some weird, unholy birth.

Piper face-palmed so hard it made a loud smacking sound and Will asked her if she was okay. The rest of the campers' faces ranged from confused to disgusted as Aphrodite descended, throwing glitter as she did so.

Aphrodite was hard to look at. Not just because of the fallin glitter shimmering around her, but because she herself was shimmering. Her form constantly was changing, little by little, into various, beautiful people. Perhaps it was the "beauty in the eye of the beholder" thing. She was blonde, then brunette. High cheekbones, freckles, pink cheeks... Her form kept wavering.

"Hello, my lovely campers," her voice sounded how cotton candy tasted. She saw Piper and beamed, "Hello, Piper, darling! How are you and Jason?"

"_Mom!_" Piper said indigently.

Aphrodite smiled, "Sorry, dear. Didn't mean to embarrass." She addressed the crowd, "On this wonderful day of love and caring, I have come here as a gift to all of you! With Chiron's permission, of course! I am here to give you all your love forecasts for the year!"

This was greeted with a rumble of excited voices. Most people sounded happy, but Nico felt like a bowling ball had been dropped into his stomach. He certainly did not want to discuss love, and definitely did not want to discuss it in front of all these people.

"Nico?" Will said quietly.

Nico felt his blood turn cold, "What?" He hissed.

Will was taken aback, "You look sick. Are you okay?" He reached out and Nico knocked his hand away.

"I'm fine, okay, Will?" He said coldly. Will raised his hands in surrender then crossed them in front of his chest. Nico knew he shouldn't have snapped. Will didn't mean anything by it. He was a healer, he was just trying to help. Will didn't mean anything by anything he did. Will was just nice. Nico needn't be so closed off.

_You push people away. That's what you do. You push and push and push. That's why you're always alone. Always always always always…_

"And," Aphrodite continued, "I will not leave until I've spoken to each of you." Nico could've sworn she glanced at him. "All right! I will be in my cabin! Tootles!" With another explosion (this time of cut-out hearts) she disappeared.

Piper groaned, "_Mother!_" She yelled out to the universe.

"Relax, Piper," Will put a hand on her shoulder. "She's just trying to have some fun."

Piper shook her head, "If she tries to make my love life _interesting_ again, I swear to Zeus…" She walked off before Nico could hear the end of her swear, but he figured whatever Piper was planning to do was colorful in language. Piper may look a beauty queen, but Nico had seen her angry before and he certainly wouldn't want to be on the other end of her aggression. Or her knife.

Will looked at Nico, "Dude, you seriously look sick. Tell me what's wrong or I will carry you to the hospital myself."

As Nico looked at Will, he found himself suddenly wondering why Will wasn't constantly surrounded by admirers. Certainly Nico couldn't be the only who found him attractive. Will _was_ attractive, in a very conventional sense too. Blonde hair and blue eyes. Tall and muscular. Will should've been noticed more than he was. Honestly, Nico wasn't one to talk himself. Not that Nico had spent too much time at Camp, but even he had hardly given Will much mind when he was there. Will was just this background person that never seemed of much importance.

Nico brought himself back to reality, "I, uh, had a bad experience with a love god before."

Will nodded, "The thing with Eros?"

Nico's eyes widened, "What do you know about that?"

"Relax," Will laughed, grabbing Nico's shoulder. "I don't know your secrets. Jason just told me you had a run in with him last year."

"Oh," Nico breathed. "Yeah. Right."

Will titled his head, "You sure you're all right?

"Yeah," Nico nodded, bringing himself to meet Will's eyes. They were so blue. He looked a lot like his dad, who Nico had met once. Apollo had been handsome sure, but not enough substance to really attract Nico. Not like Will. Will was so…real. He was so nice. Too nice. Nice to everyone.

Nico noted that Will's hand was still on his shoulder.

"Well," Will said, "Come get breakfast with me then. I'm not taking no for an answer." The statue had begun spewing out pink confetti now, to ad to the Valentine's mess. "Besides, if you stay here, you run a serious risk of being buried in pink glitter. As much as I want to see that happen, I think the world would explode from so much paradoxalness of _you_ being in pink glitter, that we probably shouldn't do it."

Nico squinted, "Paradoxalness?"

Will shrugged, "I'm good with words. Must be an Apollo thing."

"But that's _not_ a word-"

"All complaints must be submitted in the form of writing," Will said, slinging his arm around Nico. "Come along, death boy. Waffles are calling my name."

**OOO**  
Jason came and sat at their table.

Well, not sat so much as fell, catching himself only by gripping the edge of the table. His eyes looked as big as lemons.

Will appraised him, "You don't look good, mate."

Jason shook his head. His glasses had gone askew and were threatening to fall off, but he seemed not in the least bit bothered by this. Nico wasn't used to seeing Jason so frazzled, and the glasses somehow made him look even more so.

"Aphrodite…" Jason breathed, "She told me…she told me…"

"Out with it, man," Will prompted.

Jason looked up, "She told me Piper and I are going to have _seven_ _kids_!" Will and Nico burst out laughing, but Jason only grasped his head as if keeping it from exploding. His dumbstruck look was enough to have Nico sputtering with chuckles.

"You don't understand!" Jason stressed. He pressed forward on the table, "_Seven kids_! I can't have _seven kids_! That's too much energy that's….that's…" he dropped his head on to his hands in exasperation. Will was beaming, but his gaze had moved from Jason to Nico, which made Nico wonder if he had something on his face. Or perhaps the image of Nico smiling was so novel to him that he had to stare.

Piper walked over, and Nico was happy to not have Will staring at him anymore. He could feel his face turning red and didn't want anyone to notice.

Piper grabbed Jason's shoulders, "Did mom bother you too much?"

Jason gasped, "_Seven kids_!" He screamed. Nico and Will laughed again.

Piper blinked, "I'm missing something, aren't I?" She shook her head, "Come on, Jason; let's go get you some food." Like he was some feeble puppy, Piper grabbed his arm and led him off to the buffet.

Will smiled, "Well, let's hope it's not as bad as all that for us."

Nico shrugged, "I don't really want kids anyway. I'd be a terrible dad."

Will pursed his lips, "Nah, you'd be a good dad. And, if your kids were ever bad, you could just raise up skeletons and scare them into submission!"

Nico rolled his eyes, "Wow. You'll be a fun father."

Will leaned back on the bench, "Excuse you, sass pants, I'll be an awesome father. I'm gonna adopt nine thousand children and raise a small army. And you know what? We're gonna come after you first. You won't even know it, just one day a brigade of seven thousand small children will be in your yard. You won't even know what's happening and then I'll ride in on a magnificent stallion and we'll storm your house!" Will started doing something that Nico could only assume was a mime of sword fighting.

Nico stabbed at the remainder of his food, "Did you just call me sass pants?"

"Really, _that's_ what you got from this monologue? That was a great monologue, Nico. Filled with pith and moment and all that stuff." Will shook his head in exasperation. The waffle he'd been so eager to have was already eaten, and now he was chewing on an apple rather loudly. And he just kept looking at Nico. Maybe it was that doctor thing. Perhaps he was really good at reading people.

Will put his hand on Nico's shoulder again, "Hey, don't be scared of Aphrodite."

"I'm not scared of Aphrodite," Nico replied.

"Good," Will squeezed his shoulder, "cause you can raise ghosts and command the dead! Don't let some silly fairy goddess scare you."

"I'm _not_ scared," Nico repeated. Will smirked, taking his hand away. Nico could've sworn he moved a bit closer, but he probably didn't.

"Good," Will repeated, "because I'm a little freaked out myself."

"You are?" Nico raised his eyebrows. He couldn't imagine Will being afraid of anything. Will who jumps to the call whenever anyone is sick and injured. Will, who decided to stay at camp just to help new kids adjust. Will, who fought beside him last summer.

He nodded, "Yeah. What if she's all like, '_Will Solace_,'" he raised his voice comically high. "_'Your true love resides in the bottom of a volcano is Guatemala. Go find him_.'"

Nico blinked, "Him?" _I must've heard that wrong. People use 'him' all the time. He probably didn't mean it. No. Don't get your hopes up. _Nico could feel this very strange fluttery feeling in his chest and wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

Will didn't falter, "Yeah, him. Anyway, I'm not about the quest life. Besides, I've already got a pretty good idea of who-" Nico must've been staring more than he thought, for Will turned and laughed, "What's up, death boy?"

Nico couldn't breathe. He couldn't form words. He very acutely understood how Jason had just felt and regretted laughing at him. Dumbstruck was not even a good enough word to describe it. How could Will just say something so huge so casually? Did he not know what he'd said? Did he not know what it meant?

Will was like him. He was…he was…

"You're…" Nico breathed, "You're…"

Will cocked a brow, "Yes?"

"You're…" Nico nodded.

Solace laughed, "You can say it, DiAngelo. It's not a bad word."

"No!" Nico raised his hands. "No! I don't mean that! Not at all! I just didn't realize you were-"

"Gay," Will finished, without a hint of mocking. He cocked a smile, "Correct, 10 points to death boy!" He said in an impersonation of a game show host, "However, we also would have accepted homosexual, queer, or, my personal favorite, queer as a two dollar bill."

Nico just kept staring. He didn't mean it to be rude, he just couldn't stop staring. Will was like him. There was someone else like him. And it was Will… _Stop, it still doesn't mean he likes you in that way. It doesn't mean anything._

He cleared his throat, "That's good. I mean, well, I don't mean… I just…. I am…too."

Will smirked again, "Yes. The sky is blue. The grass is green. My father is Apollo." Nico blinked. "I'm sorry, I thought we were stating things that were obvious." Nico tried to speak but Will cut him off with his laugh, "Seriously, Nico, you didn't think you were the only gay kid at Camp Half-Blood did you?"

Now Nico was bright red, he could just feel it. And Will staring at him was only making it worse. Will wasn't staring in a mocking way…it was a sweet way. It seemed nice, but Nico didn't want to be stared at. He didn't want to be seen. He didn't want this to be a big deal.

So he reverted to his old friend: sarcasm.

"Well we don't exactly have committee meetings, do we?"

Will's eyes lit up, "Oh my gods, we should have committee meetings!" He looked thoughtful, "We could call ourselves the Homosexual Helpers! Or the Gay Brigade! We can go around helping people and fighting bad guys and all that jazz! I'll be like the whole 'seven half-bloods' thing, but 100 time more awesome." Will seemed to be getting some sadistic pleasure from making Nico uncomfortable. How could Will be so casual when Nico wanted to explode? How could he be so easy about something so difficult?

Will nudged him again, "This meeting of the Gay Brigade will have to continue later. I've got a love goddess to go talk to." Will picked up his tray, "See you in a bit, death boy."

He gave a very noticeable wink as he walked off the pavilion.

**OOO**

Nico hit himself in the face with his pillow. He'd been doing this for approximately an hour and couldn't bring himself to stop. _He knows. Will knows. He knows. _Will knew about his crush. He knew. How long had he know? Had it been obvious? Why did he never say anything? Did he not feel the same? Was he trying to spare Nico's feelings? Then why would he wink at him and be so flirtatious?

Nico hit himself in the face with his pillow again. It was a strange comfort.

There was a knock on his door. Begrudgingly, he pulled himself out of bed and went off to the door where he found Piper waiting. Worry lines showed themselves on her face, and her usual perfect braid was out of place.

"Nico, she won't leave," Piper said in a moan. "She won't even let me back in and I _live there._ Please, just go humor her. You're the last one to go and-"

"Okay," he said. Piper must've not been expecting him to agree so readily. She took a second to respond.

"Awesome," she blinked. "I guess I'll just leave you to it then." She raised a worried brow and turned away.

Nico took a deep breath, trying to get in as much oxygen as possible. _I can do this_. He remembered Will's words. _You can raise skeletons, why are you scared?_

He was scared because death was easy. Skeletons and ghosts and corpses were natural. They were a part of life. Even people who didn't believe in the gods knew that. But love was so…unnatural, at least to him. It was a foreign concept. Not that he hadn't received love or given love. He'd loved his sister Bianca and their mother too. He even loved his father, and his father loved him…in his own way.

But that wasn't romantic love. It was just friendship/family love, which was a totally different thing. It was a casual thing. A thing often given and received. Romantic love was so weird. Just as common, yet somehow more uncommon. Or maybe just to him. He hadn't loved Percy. He'd liked Percy…he'd been infatuated by Percy…but he liked the image of him better than the actual person. Percy wasn't for him.

Did Nico love Will? He wasn't even sure about that. He certainly liked Will a lot, and in a different way than he had liked Percy. Everyone said love was so easy, love was so simple, but why was it so hard for Nico? Nico, who could shadow travel and raise the dead, was scared and baffled by love.

_Opposite ends of the spectrum I guess_, he thought as he began his walk to Aphrodite cabin. The statue in the middle of the circle was now shooting out chocolates. It was proving to be a rather dangerous thing, for some Ares kid got hit with one and had gotten a pretty good sized welt on her arm.

_Will and I are opposite ends of the spectrum too. Night and day…literally._

He walked to the Aphrodite door, and did not shudder as he took the handle_. I can do this. There is nothing to be frightened of. I've been through Hell and back, literally. I can do this. I'm not scared of some fluffy, princess, fairy-_

"Nico DiAngelo!" The door slammed behind him as he stepped inside. He was surprised to find it pitch black.

Nico cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah?" He stepped forward with trepidation.

"_Love is not an easy thing to forecast_," said a dreamy voice. "_It is ever changing, like the seasons_-"

"Skip the poetics, Aphrodite," Nico said. "There's nothing you can tell me that I don't already know."

"Uh!" The dreamy voice now sounded quite offened. He heard the sound of two sharp claps, and the light flashed on so abruptly that Nico hissed and shut his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw the Aphrodite cabin, looking quite regular. It looked like any other cabin really, just decorated a bit nicer. Each bed had different things for each camper who lived there, but it was overall cleaner and better organized than most.

Nico had been expecting more pink. He'd assumed Aphrodite would've "decorated" the cabin inside too. The goddess herself looked more or less the same as she had earlier and was sitting on a rather small desk chair, looking quite ticked off.

"You're _just_ like your father," she said distastefully. "He always made fun of love too, yet he feels it just as keenly as anyone else." Aphrodite smirked slightly, rising from the chair and moving towards him. She seemed to float, and Nico wondered if she was. Her dress moved like fluid across her body. "And I'd thought _you'd_ like poetics, Nico DiAngelo, judging by your favor towards a certain Apollo camper." Aphrodite said with a smug smile.

Nico crossed his arms, "Serioulsy?"

Aphrodite stuck up her chin, "See? I know all about your love life." She floated closer, "I know your secret…"

"What? That I'm gay and I have a crush on Will Solace?" Nico wasn't sure where this confidence was coming from, but he was really liking it. He watched as Aphrodite gazed at him, her expression and form constantly changing. "Again, don't tell me things I already know." He thought she was going to lash out. He really shouldn't be taunting a goddess like this, and he wasn't sure why he was doing it in the first place. If he'd tried something like this with Zeus, he would've been dead five minutes ago.

But she smiled, "You've grown very brave, Nico. But you are still frightened of love-"

"I'm _not_ frightened of love." He said.

She shook her head, "You're frightened of rejection then."

He did not respond.

Aphrodite put a hand on his shoulder, "But you aren't the only one frightened." She dropped the gesture and began to cross back to her chair. "Another young man came in here before you. A very handsome young man, mind you. He was frightened. He was frightened that a certain son of Hades was disinterested. See, this young man had done a lot to catch the son of Hades's eye. He'd taken care of him at the hospital and tried to spend every moment possible with him. He even stayed here over the summer to spend more time with him." Nico felt this very weird feeling in his stomach. It made him feel like laughing. Or throwing up. He couldn't decide. "But the son of Hades was always very aloof."

Nico didn't say anything. _Now _she's_ taunting _me_._

"So the son of Apollo thought maybe the son of Hades didn't feel the same."

Nico huffed a breath, "Are we done now?"

Aphrodite smiled, floating into her chair, "Not quite. I still haven't give you your forecast yet."

"Goody," Nico deadpanned.

Aphrodite crossed her legs, "But I don't need to give you a forecast, son of Hades." Nico raised a brow. "Because I already gave the son of Apollo his." With that cryptic note, Aphrodite nodded and Nico heard the door behind him open. She gave a little beauty queen wave and Nico turned and left, his head swimming_. I already gave the son of Apollo his…_ What did that even mean?

Piper was outside the door when he left, a waiting look upon her face.

"All yours," he smiled slightly.

She sighed in relief, "Thank goodness! I've so much stuff to get done, and it's hard to do it when Jason is sitting next to me blathering on about seven kids…" She shook her head. "I don't even…I don't want seven kids! And mother is acting like I don't get a say in the matter, when I feel I have a great deal of say in the-"

Nico threw up his hands, "I don't want to hear this."

Piper blushed, "Of course. Sorry." She stepped up into the doorway, "Well, I hope she didn't emotionally traumatize you too badly! See ya around." In lieu of a hug, she squeezed his shoulder in a sisterly way and shut the door behind her. Nico was left outside, where he noted that the statue and pink paint had disappeared. The only thing left of Aphrodite's appearance was a pile of pink, white, and red rose petals on the ground. Nico rolled his eyes at the display, kicking up some of the petals into the air. He still couldn't figure out what Aphrodite had meant, but decided not to think on it too much. It only made him want to crawl back into his cabin and hit himself with his pillow.

What she had said had given him hope though, and he wasn't entirely sure why. It sounded like she was saying that Will liked him back, but it also sounded like she was saying that he thought Nico didn't return the thought. Which Nico could understand, really. He was far too reserved, he knew that. Gods, he'd had a crush on Percy for years and no one was ever the wiser. Nico didn't like to show his feelings to anyone, ever. Showing your feelings made you weak. Wearing your heart on your sleeve was as foolish as going into battle without armor.

This mentality had kept his safe for a long time. Well, it had kept him _alone_ for a long time, which was nearly the same thing. But now he wasn't sure if he wanted to be alone.

He wanted to march right up to Will and tell him how he felt. _That's what he should do._

_I'm not brave enough for that…_

_Brave enough?_ Said a little voice in his head. _Of course you're brave enough. You are so brave enough. You are more than brave enough. You've been to Hades. You've been through Tartarus and lived to tell the tale. You lived through not one, but two wars. You transported a crazy, mind-controlling statue cross-continents with a domineering Roman and a crazed satyr. You've stood up to not one, but two love gods. _

_Brave enough, Nico DiAngelo? You are nothing _but_ brave enough_.

Nico took a deep breath, scanning across the crowds for Will. He had to do this now. He had to do this now or he'd never have enough courage too again.

He caught sight of Will's blonde hair across the way, standing (thankfully) alone by the dining pavilion. Nico rushed over, probably looking a bit crazed, but determined to speak his mind. Will looked up when he came over. His smile fell when he saw the contorted look upon Nico's face.

"Are you feeling okay?" Will asked in his healer's way. "Bad visit with Piper's mom?"

"Doyouwanttogoonadatewithme?" Nico blurted out. Instantly, he wished he'd been smoother. Will was always so smooth. Will could get you to agree to something before you even knew what you were agreeing to. Nico didn't seem to have that skill, as he'd just learned in that moment.

Will blinked, "I, um…was that English?" That little smirk grew at the corner of his mouth.

Nico breathed. "I said: Do you want to go on a date with me?"

The two seconds it took for that sentence to process in Will's mind and for him to give and answer was the longest two seconds of Nico's entire life. He saw his whole life flash in front of his eyes at that moment, and saw his own bitter end_. Will was going to laugh. He would laugh, then all the campers would laugh, then the whole world would laugh, and the gods would laugh, and then the world would explode into fiery bits and-_

"Of course I'll go on a date with you, death boy," Will smiled. "Took you long enough."

"Uh…" Nico sputtered. "I…Good. Well, not _good_, but good. Like, yeah. Uh." He coughed, "There's like a, uh, Olive Garden right outside camp. We could go there."

"Okay," Will kept smiling. "Sounds fine to me. Do we have Argus drive us or-"

"No," Nico said immediately. "That would be…weird. I could just, uh, shadow travel us there."

Will nodded, "Okay, but I'm paying for dinner." Nico opened his mouth to speak, but Will silenced him. "You're getting us there, I'll pay. When are we going?" Nico blanked, realizing he hadn't really thought this thing through. However, Will seemed to be a step ahead. "How about tonight? Meet outside your cabin at seven?" Nico nodded. "Good. See you then, death boy." With that little smirk of his, Will turned and walked off towards the cabins.

Stepping forward, Nico called out, "Hey! What did Aphrodite talk to you about?"

Will turned, "Nothing much, really. Just to…expect the unexpected." He gave Nico a very acute gaze, then turned back on his way.

Nico couldn't breathe. Had that actually just happened? Will Solace was going on a date with him.

"Oh my gods, Will Solace is going on a date with me," Nico said to himself.

His heart pounded, _Will Solace is going on a date with me!_ He dashed off to his cabin, not caring that people were staring at him wondering why he was running so fast. _I have a date!_ Granted, it was only barely past noon… It didn't matter. Nico had never been on a date before! _What do you wear to a date?_

_Oh my gods, it's just a date! How scary can it be?_

Nico wasn't quite sure, but at that moment, he thought he would've preferred Tartarus.


	2. Suddenly, A New Chapter!

**Here's your date chapter, you hooligans.**

**Happy (almost) Aphrodite day!**

**Will I ever update this again? Maybe. Stay tuned. For now…enjoy the mushiness.**

**OOO**

It was a terrible decision really.

There was that momentary triumph of asking out the boy you'd been crushing on for months, which was wonderful and great while it lasted. But there was also the acute and very real horrific awkwardness of being on a date with said boy. There was also the terror of being on said date with said boy in a very public restaurant with lots of people who could see you.

Not that Nico was ashamed of who he was, he was just nervous about people seeing it. Really no one knew, or so he liked to believe. Apparently, it had been quite obvious to Will, but Will was gay too. Maybe gay people have some sort of sense where they can pick each other out in a crowd. Obviously Nico had not reached a level of homosexuality where he acquired that skill. Maybe you needed to be gay for a few years before you developed powers. _What in Hades does that even mean?_ Nico glanced at the dull butter knife on the table and wondered if he could use that to slice his throat open and take up shop in the underworld permanently. His father was a bit too much to handle, but at least it would save him from the horrific discomfort of sitting across this table from Will.

All right, he was probably being a bit dramatic. Also, Nico's mind moved very quickly when he felt stressed, and now he felt more stressed than he ever had before. They never talk about this in movies. The two leads just end up together and then the credits role. It's not the two leads end up together and you watch them make awkward small talk over mediocre spaghetti. Will had gone to the restroom, so Nico was left alone with only his weird thoughts about spaghetti and gay super powers.

Will slid back into his side of the booth and Nico was 90% he was going to vomit.

Will studied him, "What are you thinking about?"

95% sure he was going to vomit.

"Gay spaghetti super heroes," Nico said abruptly. Then the waitress appeared.

"Are you gentlemen ready to order?" Said the tall blonde girl with dreadlocks and daddy issues probably.

Will, who seemed to still be recovering from Nico's outburst just looked on wide eyed without saying anything. Nico took that as a cue to order.

"Just a spaghetti and meatballs for me," Nico said quietly.

"Soup or salad?"

"Minestrone soup," Nico said. _To literally drown my pathetic face in_, he wanted to add, but figured that was a bit morbid to say out loud. Will ordered something, but Nico really wasn't paying attention. He was too busy focusing on breathing, which all of a sudden seemed like a much more difficult thing to do. What was a normal breathing rate anyway? Will would probably know, but Nico certainly wasn't going to ask him. Honestly, Nico was still trying to recover from his last outburst. _Gay spaghetti superheroes? What the heck, brain?_

"Pretty busy in here tonight," Will said, thankfully not commenting on gay spaghetti superheroes.

"Nothing says 'love' like sub-par Italian food," Nico replied as he fingered the broken seal of his silver ware set. Will laughed more than Nico thought he would, which was nice but also sort of awkward. _This is a disaster, _Nico decided. _I was stupid to think he'd like someone like me. We are polar opposites. This will never work ever. I should open up a portal to Hades right now and engulf myself in it. This is Olive Garden. They've probably seemed much weirder things here than a portal to Hell…_

Will continued, "Are you kidding me, Nico DiAngelo? I happen to know for a fact that every day children of Tuscany spend their lunch eating _Olive Garden Official Breadstick Sandwiches_. That _is_ the most authentic Italian meal." He slammed his hand on the table for effect. "Mother and Fathers of these Tuscan children slave endlessly to ensure that these breadstick sandwiches are made with only the freshest ingredients from the processed factory. Day in and day out these noble parents-"

"Will, you're yelling," Nico could feel the eyes of the elderly couple next to them like a burning ray of the sun. _They probably know we're on a date. By their age, they certainly aren't comfortable with this. Dang, I'm not comfortable with this. I should be their age anyway._

There was that feeling of a rock dropping to his stomach that always came along with that thought. Nico was living in the wrong time. He should be in his eighties, had the gods not inferred with his life. Honestly, Nico should be a lot of things had the gods not interfered with his life. Will knew about the whole Lotus Casino thing. Everyone knew. He had people staring at him like he was some freaky vampire for weeks when he and Bianca had first arrived. She had told him to ignore it and he had tried. He'd really tried. But it was hard to be 21st century kid when your brain was hardwired for the 1930s. Being how he was was hard to accept. Ridiculous to accept_. Unnatural urges_, he'd heard the teachers say at school. Nico had told no one but Bianca.

Will was still going on about his fake history of breadstick sandwiches when Nico realized he had not been listening to the latter half of the story. And the waitress had dropped off their salad and soup at some point. Nico must've blacked that out.

"…and thus the grandfathers can rest with the solid idea that their ancestral breadstick sandwiches have been passed down through the generation." Will lowered his head dramatically as though closing a prayer. He took a sip of water and smiled at Nico's dumbfounded look. "That's some pretty big shade coming from a guy who said 'gay spaghetti superheroes' not five minutes ago."

Nico could not answer. His eyes kept darting around the restaurant, and he just knew people were looking. And they were not looking because Will was loud, they were looking because they _knew_. They had to know what he and Will were doing. Two guys didn't just dress up and get dinner together, especially not on Valentine's Day.

Why had Nico even suggested a place so public? He'd been so hyped up on adrenaline after facing Piper's mom that he hadn't thought anything through. Nico and Will should've just gone for a walk or something. Swimming. They could've gone swimming. Nico didn't particularly like swimming, but it would be better than drowning in his own sweat. Oh God, Nico was _sweating_. When had that started? He could feel it dripping down his back and making his hands all clammy. His throat even seemed to close off as he sat there, starring at the untouched bowl of vegetable water in front of him.

"Hey Nico, are you-"

"I have to go to the restroom," Nico said abruptly. Just as suddenly he stood, banging his knees pretty badly on the table but not really feeling the pain. And more people were staring now. Gods, why wouldn't they stop _starring_?

He walked to the bathroom so quickly that he nearly tripped over some little girl with blonde braids. Nico hardly cared when the mom paused to say something to him. That dark cloud that often engulfed him was coming back, though he had fought valiantly to keep it away. Gods, what was _wrong_ with him? He was always so much better than this. Nico had been trying so hard to be better than this, so why was this awful feeling persisting. This was his one shot with Will and he was blowing it all because he could not keep his stupid head on his shoulders!

Not entirely sure what he meant to find there, Nico opened the door to the Venetian inspired decorated restroom. What he did not expect to find by any stretch of the imagination was Piper's mom once again.

"Oh son of bit-"

"Nico, darling!" Aphrodite squealed, coming forward and taking him into her arms. If he could catch on fire, he certainly would've done it then. She pulled back, grasping his shoulders tightly. "What are you doing in here when you could be out with that hot piece of man cake?"

"Please don't call Will a hot piece of man cake."

"_Ooh_, if he were a bit older and less interested in men I'd let him-"

"Nope, this isn't helping me."

She laughed that laugh like a bell. Nico noticed how thick the air had come. She'd stopped time, naturally. Gods could do whatever the heck they wanted, after all. And certainly Aphrodite didn't want any mortals stumbling in on their conversation. Could she change into a man? He wondered as her form continued to change. Only now she did not wear a ridiculous gown, but wore a simple jean and t-shirt ensemble. Like Piper, even the simple clothes looked runway ready on the woman.

Her prettiness, however, did not negate the fact that Nico _really_ wanted her to go away.

She let go of him, "What are you so scared of?"

_Everything_, Nico wanted to say, but figured that sounded a bit emo. It was true though, there was nothing about this that didn't cripple him with fear. The very thought of going back out to that table sent chills down his spine. He couldn't do this. This was insane. Everyone was staring at them. Everyone knew about them.

"He wants to be here with you," Aphrodite said in a voice that sounded suddenly sincere. "And I know. I'm the love goddess." Nico rolled his eyes, to which she laughed again. "You're a queer one, Nico DiAngelo." She paused, "No pun intended. Ha!"

"Great."

"You can raise armies of the underworld," She said with a smile. "Don't be scared!"

And with a pop and another explosion of glitter hearts, Aphrodite was gone. He wanted to scream out asking how he was meant to clean this up, but someone walked into the restroom before he could say anything. A very confused looking man with a beard stared at him.

Nico cleared his throat. "Um, yeah, my bad. Sorry."

**OOO**

"I can't believe you've never seen _Star Wars._ Who's never seen _Star Wars_?" Will asked for the fourteenth time as they walked back to the cabins. They'd ended up stopping for ice cream on their way back. Will had ordered some heinous cone piled with three flavors and was still finishing his up as they reached the center of camp.

Nico sighed, "I've had many extenuating circumstances, Will. _Star Wars_ has not been a priority."

"_Star Wars_ is always a priority," Will said, tossing the small bit of his cone away into a garbage bin. They'd reached the Apollo Cabin. _What do I do? Do I walk him to his cabin? Does he walk me to my cabin? How does this happen? _But it was Will who stopped, pausing towards the middle of the horseshoe. "Thanks for the date, death boy."

"You paid for the dinner," was all that Nico found himself able to say. Why did everything Will said sound so debonair and charming and everything Nico said sound like he was reading a phone book?

Will shrugged, "You paid for ice cream. Ice cream is much more important."

They paused_. Oh gods, what do I do? Do I say something? Does he say something? Do we hug? Do we kiss?_ Thinking of that last one made Nico 100% certain he was going to vomit. It filled the pit of this stomach with this strange feeling that was too close to fear for him to think it anything other. Nico looked around the camp. There were a few strangling people about, but no one was staring.

"Well then," Will said with a smile that made Nico 110% sure he was going to vomit. "Goodnight, Nico." Then, because Nico DiAngelo is a colossal idiot, he stuck out his hand. Will stared at it for a moment before his smile turned into a smirk. He shook it. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

Nico grunted, "I didn't mean-"

"I'm just joking," he laughed, letting go of Nico's hand. "You cool for a hug?"

"Um, sure," Nico's voice sounded higher than he meant it to. Will laughed again and soon they were embracing. It was nice, and not terrifying like Nico had expected it to be. Just a normal hug, not something to be frightened by. Though he was not one for embracing, it felt good at least. Not weird or anything.

They broke, "G'night, Will."

"G'night, death boy. Let's do it again sometime."

With that Will was off leaving Nico with conflicting feelings of relief and regret. What if he had kissed him? Just to think about it was enough to set off every alarm inside of himself, but he let himself ponder it. Maybe he should have. It was Valentine's Day after all. Though, of course, Nico couldn't just yell after him now. That would be…tacky. Desperate. And Nico didn't need any of that. It was fine, really. He'd gotten through a date that was triumph enough. It was, of course, until Piper and Jason seemed to manifest behind him.

Piper crossed her arms, "You didn't even kiss him? What the Hades, Nico!"

"Where did you even come from?" Nico asked, though some leaves in Piper's hair made it apparent they'd been hiding behind the topiaries.

She groaned, "It would've been so cute if you guys kissed. I would've screamed."

"I really don't want to talk about this." Nico responded, turning from the Aphrodite girl and her blond be-speckled boyfriend. Though, it seemed, they were not ones to be kept away by a cold shoulder. Which he knew.

"Tell me everything, Nico! This is the greatest relationship development that has ever happened at Camp and I don't even _care_ about relationship developments! You and Will! It's so great. You're so cute. I-"

He snapped to face her, "Tell me I'm cute, one more time."

Piper grinned, "You're cute." She took his hands and smiled in that way that made it impossible to be mad at her. It wasn't even her she was mad at. Jason was staring at Nico with that stupid look on his face. Of course, Nico figured Jason would tell Piper at some point, but did it have to be right now?

"She figured it out on her own, Nico." Jason explained with desperation. "I'm sorry I-"

"I'm fine," Nico sighed, even smiling at bit. "But I really would just like to go back to my cabin, okay?"

"Yeah, totally!" Piper let go of Nico's hands like they'd caught flame. "Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out or anything it's just…I'm so happy for you, Nico! I'm happy you're happy." She beamed, and Nico knew she meant it. It was just that her high energy and smiles were exhausting him even more after this day. He wanted nothing more than to just go back and fall asleep.

"Thanks," Nico said. "Good night, guys." They said their goodbyes and the two of them went off hand and hand talking furiously fast. Nico suddenly felt more tired than he'd felt in a long time and slogged his way back to his cabin. The remnants of Aphrodite's visit were still scattered about the camp as Nico pressed into Hades cabin.

_I went on a date today_, Nico told himself as he made his way to his bed. Suddenly, the words felt fulfilling. _I went on a date today and it wasn't awful_. He smiled as he switched into his pajamas. He half expected to hear a knock on the door. Maybe Will would come back. It was a stupid, idiotic, romantic thought but he had it. Though it did not happen, eventually Nico DiAngelo drifted off to sleep. And in the morning when he woke for breakfast, there were no loud explosions or pervading love songs. He dressed himself and went outside and no one else around him seemed all that much changed. Everyone seemed exactly the same as they always were, completely unaffected by the fact that he, Nico DiAngelo, went on a date with Will Solace last night.

It was nice: like a secret. Nico saw Will across the way and smiled.

"Good morning, death boy!" Will said with fervor and Nico walked to meet him.

"Do you want to get breakfast together?" Nico spouted out in lieu of a greeting. He'd been practicing saying it all morning.

Will laughed at the brashness. "It's a date."


End file.
